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100 Year Old Coach

Crowds block the streets to catch a view of a handsome old carriage at a Jewish wedding

Non-Fiction 1926 1 mins Silent

Overview

Chance incidents reflect a changing society. The choice of a 100-year-old horse-drawn carriage as wedding transport may have been a romantic touch, or a family tradition. But by 1926, in London streets heaving with bikes, buses, cars and carts, it was to prove an impractical one. The resplendent carriage is the alien presence that gathers crowds in a break from the daily grind.

This is an unedited version of a Topical Budget newsreel story that was subsequently cut down into a shorter piece with intertitles. The identity of the couple is unknown, and though their Jewish religion is referenced in the titles (not seen here) it is unlikely to have been anything to do with the crowds or the filming. The reason the footage was captured was likely nothing more than the chance proximity of a cameraman to record the incident. Such stories could be stockpiled for use in slow news weeks.